Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world rush to Kyoto every year to see the CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL. Surprisingly, these flowers have extremely short lives. A great deal of work and donations are needed to upkeep the trees and make them bloom so beautifully. The official partner of the Festival, VISA, wanted to provide a quick and easy way for visitors to contribute to this momentary beauty.
VISA “Sakura Fubuki Maker”, an instant donation system to support the beauty of the moment, was created. Visitors who decided to make small donations for upkeep of the cherry trees, were rewarded with a sudden burst of cherry blossom petals upon completion of the payment. Visitors were given short clips with music, of this memorable moment. This project utilized the latest contactless payment system by VISA.
This unique experience attracted 3.8 times more visitors than expected, and donations for the cherry blossoms reached 185% of the initial goal. Providing an opportunity to experience contactless payment to visitors of a flower festival, turned out to be an effective way to appeal the new payment technology to a wide target. This event was so successful, it is planned to be extended to other areas in Japan.